Linda McRae: MUSIC/LYRICS/VIDEO
The Little Red Shoes
The story of Loretta Lynn's Red Shoes...the idea for this song came from the Jack White CD he produced for Loretta. She told the story of her "Little Red Shoes" over ambient background music. I was so enthralled with the story I decided to put it to music.
THE LITTLE RED SHOES
Underneath a blue Kentucky sky
A twinkle in a poor coalminer’s eye
Turned the head of the prettiest red rose around
Where bluegrass grows and shotguns shine
A flower born beneath the pines
Was the light in her daddy’s eyes all his life
Her daddy kept a big stick by the door
To keep his family safe from harm
If ever a blue gin-soaked moon shiner caused trouble
Old Aunt Boyd one jealous night
Swinging that stick with all of her might
“I’ll kill them dead” was all she said
She missed and hit the baby
The baby cried five whole days
Ears pressed flat against her face
“What can we do she has no shoes
we need to see a doctor”
In a quilt her momma made out of overalls
They carried her all those twelve miles
But the doctor said “She’ll soon be dead
because you have no money”
So they told the man at the five and dime
Our baby has no shoes and we walked twelve miles
He said “we don’t live just to give shoes away”
Then he asked us to leave and when he turned around
Momma grabbed the first pair of shoes she found
Turned and fled with shoes of red and kept on a going
When they crossed the Big Sandy on the that scary old bridge
Her daddy took to running like a terrified kid
She didn’t understand why he ran
so she asked her momma
“Why’s my daddy running so fast anyway?”
Twelve miles later her momma stopped to say
“Daddy’s putting your little red shoes away
so they don’t get dirty”
Well the baby got better so I heard
But she never walked for five whole years
Married young had daughters and sons of her own
Became a country singer out Nashville way
And forever more she’ll hear her daddy say
“I’m putting your little red shoes away
so they don’t get dirty”
And Underneath a blue Kentucky sky
A twinkle in an old coal miner’s eye
Turned the head of the prettiest red rose around